Starships are the coolest kind of vessels out there. They travel faster than light, they encounter strange new worlds, they turn space into their playground. But what are the coolest starships of them all? After much careful deliberation, we've come up with our definitive list of the 10 greatest starships in all space and time.

Feel free to disagree, or point out any ships we may have missed, in the comments. But bear in mind, we typed this on a computer — and computers are incapable of error. That means this list is also incapable of error. QED.

And for the purposes of this list, we're going by the definition of "starship" from the venerable "Starship Smackdown" event. Which means, a starship has to travel between star systems, and ideally ought to have a crew and a mission. So no Serenity, sorry.

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10) The Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)

Lots of other ships have personality, but few of them have as much character as Andromeda, the ship whose A.I. has a strong attachment to her captain. One of the most powerful ships in the galaxy, the Andromeda is one of the last reminders of a more civilized time — but she can also get medieval on enemy ships when the need arises.

9) Space Battleship Yamato (Space Battleship Yamato)

This converted World War II battleship is such a distinctive vessel, they had to name the whole damn show after her. She stands up to the Gamilons and the terrifying Comet Empire — and she's so badass, her propulsion system is also her weapon, the Wave Motion Drive/Gun.

8) SDF-1 Macross (Macross/Robotech)

Is your favorite starship a crashed alien mega-mothership, which humans managed to retrofit into the flagship of their space navy over the course of just one decade? I didn't think so. Does your favorite starship turn into a giant robot in space when it goes into Storm Attacker mode? If not, then you need a new favorite starship.

7) NSEA Protector (Galaxy Quest)
When evaluating fictional starships, you have to give points for ingenuity — and what could be more ingenious than turning a made-up spaceship from a television show into a real-life ship? They even managed to create the Omega Device without even knowing what it was! The clincher is the amount of punishment that Jason and his inexperienced crew put this ship through, and it still keeps going.

6) Moya (Farscape)
You have to love a living, sentient ship, especially one that bonds with a pilot for life. Like a lot of the other great starships, Moya is more than just a vessel — she's part of the family.

5) SSV Normandy (Mass Effect)
The prototype of the Normandy class frigates, the SSV Normandy features a stealth capacity that's unprecedented for an interstellar ship, due to the ability to store heat in its IES system. The Normandy comes in handy during the pursuit of Saren, and the final battle — just check out the above video to see her in action.

4) Rama (Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke)
This mysterious giant cylinder arrives in our solar system, and even though it's mere happenstance that it's named after a Hindu god, the name seems to fit — this unknowable ship seems to have a great destiny, beyond the knowledge of mortals. And before you know it, the ship is gone from our solar system again, doing a slingshot maneuver and setting off on its way.

3) Battlestar Galactica (new version).
It survived two Cylon wars. That's almost all we need to say. Oh, and it survived jumping into a planetary atmosphere and then out again, and even survived being merged with Cylon technology. If some frakking idiot hadn't piloted the Galactica into the sun, she'd probably still be out there defending the human race now.

2) U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D.
Sorry, TOS fans. The Next Generation Enterprise is faster, stronger, and better shielded — and the Shatnerprise never had to go up against a Borg cube. If we have to pick just one Enterprise to be the best of them all, we're going with the one that lasted through seven TV seasons and one movie.

1) Millenium Falcon.
Even leaving aside the whole "Kessel Run" thing, just look at how well it handles that asteroid field in Empire Strikes Back. And the Falcon is the only ship to have taken on two Death Stars and survived to fly another day.